Appalachian Women Oral History Project

How to Participate

We want to hear from you! If you are a woman, identify as a woman, or know of a woman who lives/lived in Central/Southern Appalachia, or are from the region, (West Virginia, Southern Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, Northern Georgia, Eastern South Carolina, Northern Alabama), consider sharing your experiences through a self-recorded oral history, journal entry, or visual media.

Participation is easy. Follow the steps outlined in our toolkit and consider the questions included here. If you choose to submit an oral history, record yourself (on your phone, on your computer, etc.) speaking about those experiences or a memory of someone you know. Feel free to have family members or close friends join you in a conversation. Recordings up to 25 minutes will be accepted. For other types of media, please provide Word docs, PDFs, or .jpg images.

Then, just fill out this release form and optional additional data form. Send your audio/image/document with completed forms to foxfire@foxfire.org, subject line “Appalachian Women Oral History Project.”

What is oral history?

Oral history is, broadly, the transmission of personal or community-based experiences through stories, songs, narratives, folklore, etc. In more formal terms, it is the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences of the narrator. As historians, we have a responsibility (and interest!) to capture history as it happens around us. In light of the current pandemic, we are turning to you to help us document this moment in history. This project collects self-recorded testimonies from individuals, families, or groups located within Southern Appalachia.